Kathleen Ann (Chotvacs) Drozda
January 26, 1952 ~ August 6, 2024
Born in:
Pueblo, Colorado
Resided in:
Pueblo, Colorado
PLEASE NOTE: Updated celebration of life information below –
Kathleen Ann (Chotvacs) Drozda, 72, passed away on August 6, 2024. She is survived by her husband Gregg; sister, Carol (Mark) Rickman; nephew, Charles (Anne Marie) Chotvacs; niece, Heather Chotvacs; stepson, Mark Drozda; and stepdaughter, Emily (Dominic) Fulginiti.
Kathleen was preceded in death by her parents, Julius and Dorothy Chotvacs; and brother, Charles (Beverly) Chotvacs.
Kathleen was born on January 26, 1952, in Pueblo, Colo. She graduated from Pueblo Central High School in 1970, and majored in English at the University of Colorado. Kathleen received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Loretto Heights School of Nursing and pursued a career as a Registered Nurse specializing in Neurology and Neuro-Trauma. In her thirty year career in Denver, she worked at Univ. of Colorado Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital, and more recently with Centura Health. She was the Director of the Neuro-Trauma unit at St. Anthony Central, and later, the Pastoral Nurse Coordinator at St. Anthony North, responsible for the community outreach programs such as flu shot and other vaccination clinics, and as the site coordinator for the Channel 9 Health Fair.
The highlight of her nursing career was receiving the Nightingale Luminary Award from the Colorado Nurse Foundation in 2015. Kathleen’s community outreach programs also earned her the prestigious Plaintree Designation Award for her efforts in fostering a person-centered healthcare culture at St. Anthony North.
In 1998 she founded Growing Home, a community advocacy non-profit providing those in need in the areas of food, housing, parenting education and lifelong stability. Growing Home is about to celebrate their 26th Anniversary serving families in the north metro Denver area.
She enjoyed traveling, especially numerous trips to New England for Fall foliage, Yellowstone to watch wildlife, Hawaii to scuba, and Alaska for the Iditarod where she learned to drive a dog sled. She was an avid Denver Broncos fan and an enthusiastic supporter of football and other sports at Colorado State University Pueblo. At home, she enjoyed spending leisure time with her husband and her sister Carol and Carol’s husband Mark hiking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.
Kathleen’s family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the numerous health care professionals at Parkview Hospital in Pueblo, and Rock Canyon Respiratory Rehabilitation Center in Pueblo for their kindness, compassion and outstanding care and support during her battle with ALS.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Kathleen’s non-profit Growing Home, 3489 West 72nd Ave. #112, Westminster, CO 80030 https://growinghome.org/donate/ or to ALS Rocky Mountain, 10855 Dover St. Ste. 500, Westminster, CO 80021 https://alsrockymountain.org/donate/
Celebration from her non-profit Growing Home will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at the Establishment at Bradburn Village, 11885 Bradburn Blvd., Westminster, CO 80031
Celebration of life will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in the Mandari Hut at the Pueblo Zoo.
My sincere condolences and prayers are with Gregg and family. I worked with Kathleen at St. Anthony North Hospital and she was such a kind and caring person. Such a gem! She will be sorely missed.
May she rest in peace.
Sincerely,
Betsy Boudreau
My heart goes out to all of you. I have many happy memories of Kathleen from my time working with her at Growing Home. Her legacy of generosity, dedication, and fun will live on, and I’m proud that she will live on through Growing Home’s mission.
Sending my love,
Maribeth Waldrep
May Kathleen’s beautiful memories live on in your hearts.💕 She was and “IS” a beautiful soul.
My sympathies to Kathy’s family and friends. I spent time with Kathy in high school and college. She was always up-beat and kind. We had some great times together. Such a wonderful person. So sorry for your loss.
I can only imagine what an enormous process it must have been to form a nonprofit and have others join and support you. I always enjoyed our post-meeting conversations. Kathleen was a great mentor and friend.
She followed in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale and will be gladly accepted by the angels as another ” lady with a lamp”. Sorry she left too soon.
Peace be with you
I had the honor of working with Kathleen while I was a chaplain at St.Anthony Central Hospital. She was tireless in her care of needful patients and families of St. As. Most certainly a mentor in her caring and nonstop energy in doing all that needed to be accomplished.
To Kathleen’s husband and family – I worked with Kathleen at St Joseph – I was her nurse manager on the neuro unit and she was the director of Med-Surg. My husband and I attended her marriage to Gregg. She was a wonderful boss, full of energy and great ideas. Sounds like she went on to do other great and wonderful things. She must have shown grace, courage and strength with her diagnosis. My thoughts are with you all – know she will be sorely missed.
Sending my condolences to you and your family for the loss of your sister. May your memories comfort you and give you peace.
Kathleen’s dad,Julius, was my high school golf coach and is responsible for where I am today by getting me a golf scholarship to CSU in Fort Collins. I came back to Pueblo in 1969 to become a colleague of Julius at Pueblo Central. I see Carol and her husband from time to time, and we talk about the Chotvacs family. I send my most heartfelt condolences to Kathleen’s husband and family, as well as to Carol and her family.